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Since 2002 our guest this evening has been gathering friends and followers in the modern Vampire culture, as well as helping hundreds, in the culture, she has created one of the most enduring cultural resources that we know of today, she has represented us in documentary work and has authored works directly aimed at guidance and practical help for every modern living Vampire.

Her contributions can’t be underestimated and now she is working to further ensure that modern living Vampires have the knowledge and resources to deal with this gifted existence.

Returning with a reviewed, refined and re-developed… could we pardon a pun and go so far as to say, “revamped” support and reference resource, it gives us the greatest pleasure to welcome back to RVL one of our dearest and most special friends, from points North, the amazing, indefatigable Lady CG.

——————————————————————————————————————–

~ Lady CG ~

RVL: Good evening Lady CG, it is always an honour and genuine pleasure to have you with us. How are you dear lady? And how’s the family? Survived the Yule season okay? *chuckles*

CG: Good evening Tim, always a pleasure to be your guest.

RVL: Over the last couple of months we have been eagerly awaiting official word of this new venture of yours– would you tell us how, and when, the original concept came about?

CG: Anyone who has been bySmoke and Mirrorsover the past couple of years is aware of how full the old message board is. It has gotten to the point where it is now difficult, even with the search to find anything on that site. Our counter doesn’t turn anymore, we seemed to have exceeded the max number of posts it is willing to show us. It was just time. It all came to a head when Yuku who used to own the site was bought out by Tapatalk. Tapatalk has the nice feature of being mobile friendly but it completely ruined all the formatting on our old threads. I could fix them all but it would take forever. Combined with how full the site is, it just makes sense to start something new, mobile friendly and EMPTY!

RVL: What is your aim in moving away from the previous “Smoke and Mirrors” format that we are all familiar with?

CG: Smoke and Mirrors was created in 2002. That was a long time before “mobile friendly” was even a catch phrase. We needed space to continue to grow and I wanted that space to be modern, mobile friendly and attractive. I wanted it to be updateable. I wanted more control over the background processes. I finally found a tech who wanted to work with me, so I hired him. The new site we developed is what you see today onThe Darkened Mirror.

RVL: Now, we have established that you are no stranger to the modern Vampire Culture… May we ask, of your personal background, would you give just a quick bio for newcomers that may not know of you… as difficult as that they may be to believe of course… do you identify as a modern living Vampire and for how long have you been aware of your true nature?

CG: I think it was about 1995 when I first found people I related to online. While my Vampiric experiences predate that time, those things are very personal in nature and appropriate here but the first online people I found who were “like me”, I found in a little IRC channel called “Parents Kitchen”. My experiences there convinced me to look for even more information and others who related to the term “Vampire” elsewhere on the net as the community awakened to the new internet age and I found my first public home in the old OneGroup e-groups that would later become Yahoo Groups.

My first home was Vampiric e-group. A relatively small group hosted by Blue Moon Occult Shop in the UK. I became a moderator there in 1998, I believe. I met a lot of good friends in that group, some who are still good friends today.

It was only a couple of years later that some of the first “modern” message boards were starting to become popular. I found my way to The Pathways to Darkness message board run by the Sanguinarium. I loved that board. I was still moderating Vampiric but this was different, fun and the people there were amazing. It was my first exposure to people like Sebastiaan Todd and Michelle Belanger, but they were far from the only friends I met there. I collected a great group of people around me and the discussions were first rate. When the board closed a year or two later and left we poor message board orphans out in the cold I started looking for a new board where we could continue our discussions.

In 2002 I was hanging out on Drink Deeply and Dream when Hapsburg and I decided to create our own board. We wanted a place where there were no bars on what we could discuss, where there was no topic that was off limits. Haps found ezboard and we built what would become one of the largest and one of the longer running message boards in the community. As you know, Smoke and Mirrorsstill exists today as an archive of community history and discussions dating from August 11, 2002 to present.

RVL: The development of the new initiative comes during the 16th anniversary year of Smoke and Mirrors, how does it make you feel to be still a major source of cultural reference after that long?

CG: I don’t know that I actually think of it in those terms, lol. In truth it feels like I’m starting over. When Facebook came into its own a lot of the community went all in. Message boards all over the community more or less “died” as people chose to favour instant messaging and groups where reactions happened in seconds rather than the hours and days it often took to get feedback on the old message boards.

When I decided to rebuild I felt like I was looking at a monumental task in trying to drag the communities back to message boards. Most young Vamps cut their teeth on cell phones and instant messaging. I was afraid it might even be a hopeless task. I tried once or twice to see if there was any reception to the idea. In the end I had to wait till “Facebook Burnout” actually became a thing and enough people, besides myself, began to miss all the advantages of message boards over Facebook groups. It’s a slow process but I think we’re finally seeing enough interest in things outside of FB, and enough technology updates to the message board systems to draw people back, at least a little bit.

Darkened Mirror logo(reproduced by permission)

RVL: Since the names, Smoke and Mirrors and Darkened Mirror seem to, ahem, reflect a common theme, that is, mirrors, what is the continuing message being carried by the name?

CG: When we looked for a name for our first board, Haps and I tried out quite a number of possibilities. In the end there were a couple of factors: We wanted a board whose name was not obviously vampiric. We wanted something that would “sell”. Smoke and Mirrors was catchy and when shortened to S&M it became something that stuck in the minds of our members in a humorous way.

When I was looking for a name for the new site I didn’t want to give up all association with our old board and yet I wanted it to be different, and there is still some hope that it will be a smaller project, quieter, perhaps a little more scholarly.Darkened Mirrorseemed to fit the bill, alluding to our old site and still fitting into the community theme, so to speak.

RVL: If we may ask now, a little about the format of the Darkened Mirror, will it be a similar sort of site to Smoke and Mirrors or is there going to be a departure from the S&M format?

CG: Now that the site is built you can actually see that for yourself! We’ve gone with a similar format with a twist. While we still have some general forums, hosted by myself, we are now offering a more “Collegiate” format site with some of the best teachers in the community offering their expertise in their own forums, teaching what they know best, while still under the safe umbrella of our site. We take care of the tech and the trolls and the teachers can do what they do best, teach.

Along with that change we have also added a Discord server for text and voice chat. You read that right, we are now offering voice discussions and support in addition to text chat to enhance the services we provide as teachers and mentors. On top of the obvious social benefits this also supports our teachers in providing a place for actual lectures and channels for both group and one on one support in real time. We can actually TALK to our members and offer voice support that does not run up their cell bills.

~ Lady CG ~

RVL: …and will you be employing “moderators” or “co-admins” at the new resource?

CG: Moderators definitely, as well as Teachers who run their own courses in their own forums.

RVL: How has the initial growth curve and response been to the set up thus far, from your point of view?

CG: We’re in a good place for having officially opened just a couple of weeks ago.

RVL: Given the current shape of the modern Vampire culture, and its often volatile and changeable nature, will anyone who comes seeking a place in Darkened Mirror be afforded one? Will there be some sort of “checks and balances” employed to maintain a certain standard of membership and interaction within the resource?

CG: We have talked about that among some of our staff, but in the end it was obvious that we wanted this resource to be as accessible as possible to those wished to avail themselves of it. We have moderators to keep an eye on things and the teachers will largely moderate their own classes. If there is an issue it will be dealt with by myself or my tech. Abuse of the system will result in i.p. bans, no fooling around. I’m counting on the support of the community to help keep the resource friendly and so far it’s working out well.

RVL: Prior to embarking upon the project did you consider changing, rearranging and refurbishing ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ or, do you feel S&M has served its purpose admirably and now it’s time to change direction a little for you

CG: We did. I did initially consider just “revamping” the place. The problem with that is the amount of community history filling up the old S&M forums. It seemed dishonest to edit it all, especially since it is still used as a resource to those looking for information or researching VC history. So in the end I simply locked up the forums, put most of the important ones on READ ONLY and decided to leave it be. My tech and I have discussed possibly moving the whole archive to the new site, but for now it’s safe and fine where it is and we have put of that discussion for a later date.

Darkened Mirror homepage art(reproduced by permission)

RVL: …and have you, as yet, received endorsement from any other major group or organisation for the initiative?

CG: The support has actually been tremendous! I don’t even know where to start thanking people for all the encouragement and all the advertising we’ve been given. It’s been overwhelming and it’s been wonderful. I think our community writers have been one of the biggest sources of encouragement, time and articles for the site. Vampire Community News and Vampire Network News have both been generous in allowing us to post news of our opening and new articles. VNN has been tremendously supportive. I can’t even start to thank them. RVL has been supportive in offering this interview, Berinvonn offered me an interview for Alaska After Dark, so eventually I’ll be doing my first podcast interview. Almost everyone has been supportive either in offering time, teachers, people to work on our new project, the Knowledge Base, where which we want to turn into a community encyclopedia. I am sure I am missing some names, but support for the project has been community wide and I just can’t say enough about how good everyone has been.

RVL:…can we, dare we, ask… any plans to turn the Darkened Mirror into the Court of The Darkened Mirror? I’ve voted at S&M; along with many, many others, to make you a deity, what about Her Royal Highness Queen CG… being as how you live in a commonwealth nation and all?

CG: No, no courts for me, *laughs*. At heart I am a writer and a teacher. I run a Coven here in Brooks and THAT is about as much time and responsibility as I can handle.

I just think Courts and Houses should have a physical presence. I largely limit the scope of my boards to being oriented to the online community, which in my mind, takes them outside the possibility of being a court or house. I am Canadian, as you know, and with we Canadian Vamps scattered across a vast country I find I am most useful as an OVC facilitator rather than one based in an actual physical court. Most Courts and Houses prefer their members to be adults. Online we can stretch that a little and help younger Vamps get ready for life in the Houses or Courts, as well as being here as support for Vamps who prefer to remain solitary or who live outside of areas covered by the Houses and Courts. So no… no Queen CG. – You WERE kidding right? ‘cause that’s just a plain scary thought, *laughs*

RVL: …and what is the true ultimate goal, or aim, of the Darkened Mirror project?

CG: The Ultimate Goal is to provide a learning and teaching and support site that meets the needs of a more modern community. The mobile friendly forums, the Knowledge Base project, the Discord server are all designed to work together to help Vampires, Therians and Otherkin find support and information online to help them learn skills that will benefit them in the outside world. I’ve always believed that it’s not enough to survive being a Vampire or Kin type. We have the right to THRIVE, and on DM we are hoping to help people find the path and skills to help them to do that in the way that best suits their natures.

RVL: We are aware that you have, in recent months, withdrawn from certain other places around the way… was this to concentrate specifically on the development of the Darkened Mirror?

CG: Almost entirely. DM has been a work intensive project. It became obvious early on that I had too many irons in the fire. I HAD to drop some things, so I prioritized and dropped the areas that were most stressful to me. Life requires us to pick and choose what we expend our energy on. I needed time to get DM up and running. I hope I will eventually have time to return to things and places I’ve had to leave behind but right now this was just more important.

RVL: We’ve spoken of practical things, such as aims and goals but can you tell us, what is the guiding philosophy behind the Darkened Mirror project?

CG: I’ve always only ever had one philosophy in my GVC goals. Being a Vampire or Kin is hard. When I went through “awakening” I did so not knowing what was happening to me, which was ridiculous considering my mother’s family was full of Vampires! My goal has always been to try and insure that no one who goes through this does so alone and uninformed. My goal with S&M was to insure there was always a light on and a hand to hold when it got tough. My goals for DM are the same, but now we want to do so with the benefit of newer technology.

RVL: As far as the group website is concerned, may we ask, is the infrastructure fully in place and, relatively, bug free now?

CG: *Laughs* Well we hope so. My projects are almost never a “finished product” Even when the site has all its ducks in a row I am forever finding things I want to do and having my poor tech talk me out of yet another of “Cg’s Hare-brained Ideas“… Hmm sounds like a new forum name… but I digress. Things seem to be largely working. Avatars now work, signatures are now possible. We have some “unfinished areas” like the Knowledge Base, which will be an ongoing project for a long time to come, and we have an unused “shop” which we are toying with, perhaps with the idea of a “kin marketplace” but we’re still messing with how we want that to work. The basics are up and running both on the site forums and my blog. What else will get added, I have no idea, but it’s me so anything is possible.

img. source: psiholistic.ro

RVL: So, if people want to be considered for membership where should they go to find the Darkened Mirror?

CG: You can find our site athttps://www.darkenedmirror.comand our “discord” chat facility is available athttps://discord.gg/HgPGprEThey should just come on down, in the case of the forums you need to make an account if you want to post and take part in the discussions, no membership is required if you just want to read. For the Discord just bring yourself and your sense of humour. Texting is possible on phones or desktops, if you’d like to take part in the voice chats you’ll at least need earphones to hear or better still, a headset if you’d like to take part in voice discussions. We have some tech friendly people who can help if you come in and have issues either on the board or on Discord. I spend a lot of time in the voice channels, and I really look forward to hearing the voices of people I have known online for years, but never actually spoken to!

RVL: …and how does Lady CG, personally, feel about heading into the 16th year of providing resources, education and support for modern living Vampyres?

CG: Old?… With my 55th birthday coming up in March I admit to sometimes feeling my age, especially when I watch those who started out as kids on S&M now taking their place as community writers, teachers and leaders in their own right! All in all it’s actually a good feeling, it’s been rewarding. I am actually looking forward to getting to know a whole new generation of members. Exciting times!

RVL: Dear Lady CG, it has been an absolute joy to be able to spend this time with and we are very happy, and excited, to help you unveil this new project. We hope; and we are sure, it will become just as iconic in the modern culture as Smoke & Mirrors before it.

CG: Thank you Tim! It’s always a pleasure talking to you. I’m ecstatic about the new project and I think there are going to be some truly exciting days ahead as the community helps me to define my new project in terms of the modern community.

The new project, Darkened Mirror, is, as you now know, a brand new and by Lady CG’s owns words, empty playing field. I have joined to represent RVL there and I know that Lady CG and her team are looking for contributions to fill the knowledge base there. I urge everyone, don’t be jealously protective of your knowledge, share it so that the entire culture might benefit from it. Lady CG and her team have built a splendid new place that is leading the way for support and information for modern Vampires in the age of instantaneous communication and cell-phone apps, it would be a measure of the maturity of the culture if people were to get behind this latest venture by a renowned, admired and deeply respected leader in our culture.

Go take a look, it’s stylish, it’s ‘sharp’, it’s classy,It’s

Darkened Mirror homepage art(reproduced by permission)

Copyright RVL, the Darkened Mirror & Lady CG, 2018

NB: Where used, quoted portions of other works are reproduced by permission, or under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, wherein allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

This article may be linked to but may not be copied or reproduced, nor redistributed in any manner, including electronic without the express permission of the copyright owners.

The views and opinions presented in this article are the opinions of the author and/or contributors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of The Owner/s of RVL, their officers, assigns or agents. RVL and its officers do not personally, individually, or jointly necessarily recommend or condone any of the activities or practices represented.

In our last Crossroads Editorial I promised that “further information” would be made available as it came to hand…

In reference to the late Lady Sangi’s site Sanguinarius.org I can report that in response to the statement in that editorial,

“At last visit it seems that the “Registration” for site is still disabled, however, we have contacted the administrators/managers at The VCMB (the Sanguinarius.org message board) to determine whether this will be changing and when. We will make the information available when we receive a reply.”

We received a reply from Lady SphynxcatVP, another leading information and support figure in the modern culture. The reply was as follows;

“Registration on sanguinarius.org will be disabled for a while. Time duration unknown at this time. Plans are to redo the site into something more secure while still being mobile-friendly.

To the best of my knowledge, all parts of the site that Sangi historically had accessible in the past should STILL be accessible without a login (AFAIK, logins were just for making comments on posts), barring the FAQ’s which are currently disabled because the FAQ script hasn’t been supported in years, and thus is no longer getting security patches. The main concern with the unsupported FAQ script is that it could be hacked to deliver malware or a nasty virus (or multiple malware/virii), which would ultimately leave readers with an unpleasant experience.”

We would like to thank Lady Sphynxcat for the information and we will keep an eye out to let our readers know when Sanguinarius.org becomes fully operational once more, a time we, at RVL, look forward to indeed.

Copyright RVL, SphynxcatVP & Sanguinarius.org 2017

NB:Where used, quoted portions of other works are reproduced by permission, or under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, wherein allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

This article may be linked to but may not be copied or reproduced, nor redistributed in any manner, including electronic without the express permission of the copyright owners.

The views and opinions presented in this article are the opinions of the author and/or contributors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of The Owner/s of RVL, their officers, assigns or agents. RVL and its officers do not personally, individually, or jointly necessarily recommend or condone any of the activities or practices represented.

In movieland we have come across Vampires that speak their own dialects, in some fiction too but where do these languages come from.

In the Movie “Blade”, for example, at one point in the movie Jared Nomak turns to camera and delivers a portion of dialogue – what language was it?

In the book ‘Encyclopedia Fictional and Fantastic Languages’, J. Matthew Pearson explains;
“As the vampires are an ancient race, they have their own language, and for this film, UCLA Linguistics professor Victoria Fromkin was hired to design a Vampire language (Fromkin is also the creator of the Paku language from Land of the Lost

Not enough of the language is provided in the film to construct a grammar or morphology, but phonetically the Vampire language sounds Slavic and is often mixed with Czech and Russian by the film’s director, suggesting that the Vampire race is Eastern European in origin (perhaps Transylvanian?)[1]”

img. source: porges.net

One would tend to suppose that since the majority of the tales of historical Vampires originated in, and near, the Balkan States that we should rationally expect the same sort of scenario and, if we are going to go “by the book” that started it all, in modern parlance, then we would have to expect that the “official” language of Vampyres would be some form of early Romanian.

What about Modern Living Vampires? What language should we employ, as a symbol of our unique identity and our… if I may use the term, unity?

Now this is gonna be a bit of a trip, just like the article Vampire Deities 2017, okay, maybe a bit less ‘tongue-in-cheek’ but if you would care to accompany me let’s take a look at the possibilities, maybe learn some shit along the way…

Written communication – development of

The earliest writing systems, dated to the Bronze Age, did not just fall out of the sky, nor were they the product of an ‘epiphany’… they were based on earlier systems of symbol usage that can’t be properly described as writing. These systems are most usually named “proto-writing”. Such “symbol” systems emerged in the early Neolithic period, as early as the 7th millennium BC, of which the oldest known examples are the “Jiahu symbols” from China.

Example of the Jiahu symbols;img. source: wikipedia.com

Similarly, the Vinča signs exhibit an evolution beginning with simple symbol sets that gradually increased in complexity until they achieved the highest development represented in the Tărtăria tablets of c. 5300 BC[2]

The hieroglyphic scripts of the Ancient Near East (inc. Egyptian, Sumerian proto-Cuneiform, and Cretan) emerged from these earlier systems so that it becomes impossible to discern at what point “writing” actually became recognisable, or able to be classified, as writing. “Slavic runes” (7th and 8th centuries AD) and the “quipu” of the Incas (15th century AD) may well be classified as being of a similar nature.

Writing, as it is now generally classified, emerged in a number of Bronze Age cultures, most notably, the cuneiform system of Sumeria, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Cretan hieroglyphs, Chinese logographs, Indus script, and Olmec scripts of Mesoamerica.

Early Medieval – An alphabet used to write the early Irish language (in the “orthodox” inscriptions, 1st to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language (scholastic ogham, 6th to 9th centuries).

Although the majority of the inscriptions in the ‘language’ consist of personal names according to the High Medieval Bríatharogam, names of various trees can be ascribed to individual letters.

There is some argument that the earliest known Ogham inscriptions date to about the 4th century AD, [3] but James Carney believes its origin is rather within the 1st century BC. [6] The actual use of “classical” ogham seems to have been, according to experts, most prolific in the 5th and 6th centuries around the Irish Sea, however, considering it phonetically it is clear that the alphabet predates the 5th century.

Some scholars consider it a mere cipher of its template script (Düwel 1968: [4] points out similarity with ciphers of Germanic runes). The majority of scholars favour the Latin alphabet as the template, [5][6] although the Elder Futhark and even the Greek alphabet have been touted as progenitors. [7] A “Runic” origin, it has been pointed out, would explain the presence of “H” and “Z” (letters unused in Irish) as well as the presence of vocalic and consonantal variants “U” vs. “W” (unknown to Latin writing and lost in Greek.)

We can see, from this VERY brief history, the mention of both Slavic and Germanic Runic systems and thus we might well look upon Runes as the ‘not altogether missing’ link between ancient and modern languages.

Runes (Proto-Norse: ᚱᚢᚾᛟ (runo), Old Norse: rún)

“The letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets, which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialised purposes thereafter. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark (derived from their first six letters of the alphabet: F, U, Þ, A, R, and K); the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc (due to sound changes undergone in Old English by the names of those six letters). [ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes]

The three best-known runic alphabets are as follows;

The Elder Futhark (around 150–800 AD)

The Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (400–1100 AD)

The Younger Futhark (800–1100 AD).

Nb: The Younger Futhark is divided further into the long-branch runes (also called Danish, although they were also used in Norway, Sweden and Frisia); short-branch or Rök runes (also called Swedish-Norwegian, although they were also used in Denmark); and the stavlösa or Hälsinge runes (staveless runes). The Younger Futhark developed further into the Medieval runes (1100–1500 AD), and the Dalecarlian runes (c. 1500–1800 AD).

The “Elder Futhark”img. source: frigarth.weebly.com

The process by which Runic script became dispersed is contentious but it is worthwhile noting that the oldest known Runic inscriptions are found in Denmark and northern Germany, not near Italy. A “West Germanic hypothesis” suggests that the runic systems were spread by movements of the Elbe Germanic groups, while a “Gothic hypothesis” presumes that it was a product of East Germanic expansion.

“The word ‘Rune’ comes from the Germanic root run- (Gothic runa), meaning “secret” or “whisper”, while in Old Irish Gaelic, the word rún means “mystery”, “secret”, “intention” or “affectionate love.” Similarly in Welsh and Old English, the word rhin and rūn respectively means “mystery”, “secret”, “secret writing”, or sometimes in the extreme sense of the word, “miracle” (gwyrth).” [ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runes]

Now, I can see the question that is forming among you dear readers, the obvious question, “What in the name of all the gods does this have to do with Vampires, and more especially Modern Living Vampires?”

A great number of “modern” Vampires that I know, and that I have been in communication with, favour worshiping in age old manners, in recognising the “ancient” deities and historical methodologies of worship; indeed, as an energy worker I have conducted rituals along similar lines, also, a great number of the modern Vampire culture describe themselves as Pagan, synonymous with neo-pagan, practitioners.

Paganism is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity for populations of the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population or because they were not Milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). [8][9] In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-description by practitioners of Modern Paganism or neopagan movements who incorporate beliefs or practices different than those in the main world religions.

“Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts, and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures known to classical antiquity. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of premodern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, also referred to as neopaganism.”[10][11]

In Pagan practices and traditions the Ogham alphabet and the Rune systems were the province of a few “learned” persons and the systems were used to pass along information and messages in a secretive manner, a hidden manner. Indeed, this is one of the very tenets by which modern groups, covens, Houses and other organisations operate.

Runes, one method for both communication and divination, perhaps, given these two factors, a system of secular practice as well. One of the questions that has always been on my mind is; given that the majority of modern living Vampires subscribe to the belief that we, as modern Vampyres, owe little or nothing to the historical namesake by which we describe ourselves why is it that we embrace, so widely, ancient religious and spiritual concepts?

Several years ago a noted member of our culture developed a “Vampire” alphabet and language from scratch, this as opposed to the adoption of terms to describe ourselves. The language was, as all languages are, based in a currently understood alphabetic sequence and it presented extremely well, indeed, the script developed by the designer was something of beauty. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have taken a similar concept but wound the ol’ timeclock back several millennia and, taking a page out of Professor Fromkin’s book, I set to work…

Copyright T Bey 2017

The instrument I have named “The Vampyr Futharc” (after the traditional method of naming the system for its first 6 letters) is a Rune system based on the “Engliscan Gesithas“, or Anglo-Saxon system, that satisfies the requirements, in the main, for both base communication and divination purposes. As I pointed out in the article “Vampire Deities 2017” it wasn’t extraordinarily difficult to achieve, it simply took a little time (around a day in reading material then another day, approx. in the graphical and transliteration) and some attention to the detail (after all, the devil’s in the details you know) and I am able to present it to you here.

In this day and age we need to “communicate” some quite complex and extensive concepts and that is where our modern languages have been developed to, however, in ritual practices and in short communication of basic ideas we need only a limited range of “conceptual instruments”. Be that as it may you will note several peculiarities in this Runic instrument as compared to others you may have come across.

1) Replicated vowels – one of the things that is of considerable importance in any “secret” language is the repetition, throughout a message, of the common vowels, A, E, I, O & U. In this system those letters have dual representation that no matter how and where they are used will break the pattern of repetitiveness and thus confuse attempts to, at base level, decipher the written message.

2) The interrogative symbol – At the end of the Futharc stands the symbol for a question mark. As the lead character in the movie “The Arrival” pointed out, the ability of someone to get an answer to a question depends very much on the recipient’s understanding of what a question is.
By way of examples, dear reader;

Copyright T Bey 2017

A most simplistic exchange in which Fred asks Lydia if she is going to harvest in the current month, to which Lydia replies, in the next sunny week.

Copyright T Bey 2017

A warning that “An angry man (singular) with weapons (plurality established by the use of ~ ) travelling (by) horse (passed by – established by the interrogator) 2 (utilising the basic tally system of numbering) days” (Plurality established by ~ symbol and time frame established by interrogator)

As a final example, a simple message that utilises the alphabetic connections,

Copyright T Bey 2017

In the end analysis a fairly simple system.

In the online resource Crystalinks it is written that;

“Rune stones, (sometimes cards), are used as tools of divination – a way to predict one’s future. Rune Stones come in a set of 24 ancient alphabetic symbols. They can be made of different materials – wood or glass most common and attractive – and usually kept in a pouch or box.”

The author goes on to describe a basic method for “casting” the Runes;

“Ideally ruins are cast on an East-West axis or facing the sun. A white cloth is laid down and used to determine the direction of the casting. From here the focus should lie with the pressing question. After casting the stones onto the cloth the ones which have fallen the right side up are read and depending upon whether the rune is reversed or not will have a bearing upon its meaning and the reading as a whole.”

Then goes further to offer an alternative to fully casting the Runes,

“Pick a rune stone randomly for a day reading; you can also do what is known as a 3 rune spread. Some feel that the day rune is a good way to get an answer to a single question. The 3 Rune Spread is used for asking broader questions whereas the single rune can be drawn on a daily basis.”

So, let’s go ahead and cast…

Let’s assume we cast the runes and we get the following runes come upward, not reversed;

Copyright T Bey 2017

A simple interpretation might well be: “A man/ woman (perhaps representing you or you with a companion of the opposite sex) will be travelling to a ‘place of fire’ in your country/homeland in a month.”

In conclusion:

We, in the modern living Vampyre culture, like to speak often of our unique identity, our “difference”, our “place” in the ‘grand scheme’ of things but a great many of us, to one extent or another, operate with basic principles and concepts that have their roots in the most ancient of times. Any culture, any society, any population needs – to one extent or another – a method of expressing its unique identity and its “special” aspects and in this the most common tools are its art and language… look around, we’ve definitely got the “art” covered, you only need to look back at our editorials with Lady Kate Gallwey and Goddess Rosemary, amongst the many other fine artists out there. What we don’t have is a unique language or, with the exception of prosthetic fangs and variations on the Ancient Egyptian Ankh, unique tools of worship…

Do I want you to start dancing around bonfires chanting, “ædac Rusmeada osur orth, ædac Trixdamit osur eohx…!” while tossing corn dollies into the flames as offerings? Ummm… well, hey, sure, if you want but even if not I would suggest that we do owe it to ourselves to come up with something, something that highlights and celebrates OUR culture – just like everyone else in history has.

Fol. 170r of the Book of Ballymote (1390), the Auraicept na n-Éces explaining the ogham script.

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